Meeting Someone New
by crazytomboy78
Summary: AU. Tony Stark's life revolves around technology. When Rhodey brings the new girl from school around to meet him, Tony takes an instant liking to her. But will she fall for him as hard as he's fallen for her, or will his arrogant ways deter her for good?
1. Nice To Meet You

**Full Summary: AU. Tony Stark is a sixteen-year-old boy who's life revolves around technology, money and big business. When his best friend Rhodey brings the new girl from school around to meet him, Tony takes an instant liking to her. But will she fall for him like Tony has fallen head-over-heels for her, or will his arrogant rich-boy ways deter her one time too many? Can Tony change for her, or will it be too late? **

Rhodey waltzed casually into Tony's lab, smiling as if he had some sort of secret plan. Tony, working on his latest invention, didn't pay any mind to it.

"Hey, T, you know something interesting happened today?" Rhodey said.

"Yeah? What's that?" Tony asked, not bothering to look up from his work.

"There was this new girl at school today, and I think you'd really like her. You should swing by school and meet her sometime." Rhodey explained. Tony shrugged.

"Maybe if I'm in the area. I'm not too interested in dating." Tony commented.

"I'm sure you'd change your mind if you saw her…" Rhodey mumbled as he sat down to do some homework.

~…~

Later that day, Tony was just gathering his things and leaving for home when Rhodey met him outside the lab. Tony hadn't noticed the red-haired girl that accompanied him.

"Hey, Tony, there's someone I want you to meet," Rhodey said, running towards Tony, the girl following closely behind him.

"Yeah? Who would that be?" Tony asked as they met on the street corner outside the lab.

"This," Rhodey said, stepping aside to reveal a shy-looking redheaded girl with stunning brown eyes. "Is Pepper."

Once Tony's eyes ran into hers, however, he didn't pay attention to a word Rhodey was saying. It was like he was stuck. He couldn't seem to avert his gaze to Rhodey to ask him to repeat what he had just said.

"H-hey, there," Tony greeted, "what would your name be?" He asked. She giggled.

"My name is Patricia, but you can just call me Pepper." The girl answered. Tony's playboy smile grew.

"Well, Pepper, it is lovely to meet you. I'm sure you know my name is Tony Stark," Tony said slyly. Pepper giggled.

"Of course I do, who doesn't? You're practically a celebrity." Pepper answered.

"Aw, I wouldn't say that…" Tony said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and walking down the street with her, completely forgetting about Rhodey's existence.

"I knew you'd like her." He said, chuckling and shaking his head at his friend's arrogance.

~…~

Despite Tony's appearing confidence towards Pepper, he was actually very nervous. He hid his hands behind his back because he felt his palms getting sweaty, and he pulled the eventual stutter. He was even watching his every move towards her, in fear that she wouldn't like him. He'd never felt this nervous about anyone before, ever. And feeling it now was making him uneasy; he had a very weird feeling in his gut. The weirdest of all, though, was his overwhelming desire to kiss her, then and there. But he knew he had to hold back if he ever wanted to see her again.

After whisking her away from the corner outside the lab, he took her to a deli downtown to hang out. As they did so, they had a grand old time. Laughing and talking, they found that they couldn't get themselves to _stop_ talking.

After an afterschool snack, Tony offered to bring her home.

"Well, it was really nice meeting you," Pepper said shyly, standing outside her apartment door.

"It was really nice to meet you too. This was a nice break from the lab." Tony responded.

"Well, see you around I guess," Pepper said, opening her door. Before she stepped inside and shut it, Tony stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, maybe we can do this again sometime. Here's my number," Tony said, handing her a small piece of paper. She smiled, waved and shut the door behind her. Tony smiled widely, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked home. Pepper sank to the floor, leaning against her door, sighing in delight.

This, they both thought, was the start to an amazing new relationship…

**Omg, that was so cute XD got this idea while watching Iron: Forged In Fire and it's my first real AU story, as far as I recall. Anyways, review?**


	2. Fallin' Fast

Tony sighed in delight as he rested his arms behind his head. Ever since his 'date' with Pepper last night, it was quite evident to Rhodey and Howard that he was floating on cloud nine.

"You seem quite happy lately, son," Howard commented as his son drifted into his office.

"Yeah, well Rhodey introduced me to someone wonderful last night…" Tony explained happily. Howard smiled.

"Oh he did? Tell me more about this wonderful little lady you met last night." Howard said as he looked around at some digitized documents.

"Well, she's got these big, beautiful brown eyes, and beautiful red hair, and a smile that just makes me crazy…" Tony explained, his tone of voice still in a dreamy state.

"Sounds like you really like her, son," Howard said with his smile still in tact. He was glad his son was stepping back from the technology and following the path of a semi-normal teenage boy. He just hoped it wouldn't turn out badly.

"Ah, well, I'm starting to…" Tony said as he sat at Howard's desk, feet resting on the top of it. He put his head back for a moment, thinking about her, then remembered that he had something to show his father.

"Oh, hey, I invented something awesome that I wanted to show you."

"Oh yeah? Then let me wrap things up here, and we'll go check it out." Howard said, wondering what his son had hiding up his sleeve.

~…~

Pepper woke up the morning following her outing with Tony with a smile on her face. As Virgil was reading the newspaper, he caught sight of his happy teenage daughter.

"Ah, there's my angel. And where were you last night?" He asked.

"Oh my gosh, yesterday was the most wonderful, most amazing night of my life! On my very first day of school, can you believe it; someone comes up to me and introduces me to none other than _Tony Stark_! And oh my gosh, he is soo wonderful. He's sweet and funny, and he's got these piercing blue eyes, and ebony hair, and a smile that melts me! Oh dad, it was just amazing!"

"Sounds like someone had fun…" Virgil commented. "But I just want you to be careful with that boy. Rich boys tend to be very…arrogant. Even if they seem nice, Pepper, eventually, they find a way to care more about their money. I know he's good friends with Obadiah Stane's daughter, Whitney."

"Aw, don't worry dad, I know he's not as arrogant as most of them are. Something about him is just…different." Pepper said with a smile as she took out a few eggs and started cooking them. Virgil shrugged and trusted his daughter's intuitions.

~…~

"So, what is this you have to show me?" Howard asked as the two entered Tony's lab.

"It's so awesome, dad. Just describing it doesn't do it justice." Tony said as he led his father over to the back portion of his lab.

He led Howard to the lab, and showed him to the back. Tony hesitated before opening the case in the wall that held the armor, and laid it out on the examining table.

"T-Tony, this is a-amazing!" Howard said. He was shocked and surprised to see that his son could invent such creative and high-tech stuff.

"I know, right? It has repulsors on it that can enable the wearer to fly. It's totally awesome." Tony explained.

"Tony, I-I can't believe this, this is just astounding! This is going to revolutionize the world!"

"I know, right? I'm so psyched. Just wait till you see it in action. Alongside the Earth Movers, there's nothing we can't do to help people." Tony said happily.

"I must admit, you're doing some world-changing work lately, son." Howard said proudly, patting his son's back.

"Yeah, life's pretty good right now." Tony said, putting his hands on his head in a relaxed way. Things looked good right about now.

~…~

After Howard had to go back to his office to do some paperwork and business stuff, Pepper waltzed into the lab. Excitedly, Tony guided her to the back of the lab excitedly.

"What, what is it?" Pepper asked with a giggle.

"I need to show you my latest invention," Tony explained. He led her to where the armor was laid out. When Pepper saw it, she had a similar reaction to Howard's.

"Tony, this is amazing! What does it do?" She asked.

"It's a defense-abled suit of armor! It's strong enough to break through steel. It can save millions of lives." Tony explained.

"Tony, this…this will revolutionize the whole world!" Pepper said.

"Yeah, I know," Tony said, wrapping his hand in hers. "And I'm really glad to be able to share it with you."

Pepper smiled. "Thank you, Tony, that means so much to me!" She said happily.

"What can I say, I know my priorities." Tony began. "Look, I know we kinda just met yesterday, but i-if it's not too much for you I wouldn't mind too terribly if we became-"

Just then, before Tony had the chance to say 'more than friends', Rhodey barged in like he usually did on Saturday afternoons.

"Oh, hey Pepper." He said casually. "What'cha guys up to?" He asked. Tony shot him an angry look that said 'telling her something important, get lost!'

Rhodey, though at first didn't understand his friend's anger, got the message and ventured off to another part of Tony's lab to start his homework, leaving the two out of earshot.

Tony cleared his throat before continuing. "I-if you want, maybe we could be more than friends…" Tony suggested nervously.

"Do you mean…you mean, you want me to…you-you really like me?" She asked. Tony nodded, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah…I-I just, well, I've never felt this way before…I hope that's not weird," Tony explained. Pepper thrust her arms around Tony's neck excitedly.

"Oh Tony there's nothing in the world I want more!" She exclaimed. Tony smiled, concealing his excitement better than Pepper was. But don't get him wrong, he was very elated that he had her.

"Awesome, 'cause I would've really hated to hear a 'no'."

Pepper giggled and pecked Tony's cheek, sending electric sparks through his body. He smiled and took her hand in his, glad he had someone he really cared about to call his girlfriend.

"So, what do you want to do with this?" She asked, pointing to the armor.

"I don't know, I'm not sure I want to mass-produce it. If it gets into the wrong hands someone could really get hurt, and I want to prevent that. I may just allow certain people to operate it at construction sites or demolition sites, or cave-ins." Tony explained.

"Are you kidding? It's a weapons-capable suit of armor! You can totally kick some baddies butts with this!" She said excitedly.

"Like who? I haven't seen any major crimes in the city."

"You never know, something could always happen."

Tony chuckled at her open-mindedness.

"Aw, now that's why I like you so much." Tony said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and hugging her close to him. Pepper giggled in satisfaction.

Yes, things seemed to be looking up right now. But with Tony's ego and money and fame, Pepper couldn't help but wonder, will it last?

**Let's call that good enough for now…I hope no one thinks I'm taking things between these two too quickly. Oh, and ik I forgot to explain this part of the story, but by claiming it 'AU', I meant there was no plane crash and no 'dead' Howard and no injured Tony, and all that. Should probably add that to the summary…will do. Review?**

**Full Summary: AU. Tony Stark has lived his whole life with his father, his inventions, and his only friend Rhodey. Basically, his life revolves around technology. So, when Rhodey brings the new girl from school around to meet him, Tony takes an instant liking to her. But will she fall for him as hard as he's fallen for her, or will his arrogant ways deter her for good?  
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	3. Too Arrogant

As Tony worked away on the armor in his lab, Pepper walked in and sat on the opposite side of the workbench.

"You're still working on that thing?" She asked.

"Yeah. Upgrades." Tony muttered.

"I thought we could go out and get some lunch…" She said shyly.

"Can't. Too much work." Tony muttered as he hunched himself over the armor, adjusting wires and screwing things in.

"Can't you just take a little break?" She asked hopefully.

"No, these upgrades need to happen today to get rid of rubble at the construction site in New Jersey." Tony explained. Pepper crossed her arms, huffing in annoyance.

"Fine, I have to go anyways." She said, getting up and leaving for home. Tony glanced up at her briefly and went back to work. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with her, it was just that work needed to be done.

On her way out, she saw Rhodey going in.

"What did he do this time?" Rhodey asked, noticing she looked annoyed.

"Ugh, he won't even tear himself away from his stupid armor long enough to spend some stupid time with me! Does he do this all the time?" She complained.

"Oh, plenty. Look, Pepper, it's not you, it's him. He's not exactly familiar with the concept of putting something down and spending time with someone important to him. Keep in mind the only person he has to spend time with is his dad. And me, but it's been that way since diapers. Either that or he's in the zone right now."

"In the zone?"

"Oh, it's a serious state. He gets working on something and he's almost unaware of everything and everyone around him. It's fun to mess with him when he's like that."

"I don't know, I guess it makes sense…" Pepper said, walking home.

~…~

"Dude, you do realize you just blew off your girlfriend?" Rhodey said.

"Mm…" Tony muttered as he worked.

"Oh, you really are in the zone…" Rhodey said to himself, as he realized it. He proceeded to text Pepper to explain to her why he seemed to ignore her. It didn't matter if the president of the United States came up to him, even if somehow, by some miracle his mom came up to him. He wouldn't know. He wouldn't notice. He'd just notice his armor, or whatever he was working on. She had a hard time accepting the reason, though. Rhodey didn't blame her. She didn't know him well yet.

Rhodey knew that until Tony was finished working the only word he'd let pass his lips is 'mm'. Not a single lift of the head, not a single shift of the eye to see around him. That armor and its upgrade was his sole focus by now.

~…~

Later that day, after getting rid of rubble at the Stark International construction site, Howard and Obadiah met in Howard's office.

"Howard, forget the earth movers, we should start mass-producing the armor. We'd make billions and revolutionize the world." Stane encouraged.

"Obadiah, I don't want to hear it. We are not mass-producing the armor; it's too dangerous in the wrong hands. Its purposes have already been highlighted and are quite clear." Howard said, warning in his tone.

"You're ridiculous for turning this project down, Howard, as well as the earth movers. If we'd done both your company would not be facing any problems at all." Obadiah said, storming out of the office. Howard watched, concerned, as he left.

~…~

Later, after Tony had left the 'zone', he saw Rhodey doing his homework in the lab.

"Oh, hey. What'd I miss while I was out?" Tony asked.

"Oh, not much, you just totally blew off your new girlfriend and now she seems pissed at you." Rhodey explained.

"Wait, Pepper came in? Oh shoot. She's probably so mad. I gotta go talk to her." Tony said, rushing out the lab and to Pepper's apartment.

On his way, he ran into Whitney.

"Oh, hey Tony, what's up?" She asked happily.

"Uhh, busy right now, gotta find Pepper…I'll talk to you later, Whitney." Tony explained briefly as he ran past her.

"Pepper?" She asked, confused.

As Tony reached her apartment building, he found the emergency staircase attached to the side of the building and began climbing up it. Once he got to her floor, he scrambled to crawl across the tiny ledge to her window, which was one or two from the staircase. He tapped on her window, eventually glancing down to the street.

"What the heck? Tony why are you at my window?" She asked, prying her window open.

"I-I'm here to apologize for blowing you off earlier," Tony explained. "I didn't mean to ignore you, Rhodey even said I was in the zone. It happens, I can't really control it…can I please come in before I fall to the ground and turn into a pancake?" Tony asked nervously. Pepper pulled him into her room, still not believing he'd come to her window of all places.

"And you couldn't use my front door?" She asked.

"I didn't want to make a fuss with the other people in the building. It'd cause hype…" Tony said.

"Wait, are you trying to tell me you're embarrassed to be seen with people lower than you?" Pepper asked offensively.

"What? No! Definitely not! I-I meant to explain that if I…well, if I just came through your apartment building people would wonder why a rich kid is wandering through their apartment building. They're the ones that think that, not me."

"Tony, that's not any better. You don't know that everyone's like that. Some people might not notice, and better yet, some might just not care. You're not the most important person in the world, Tony." Pepper said, crossing her arms.

"Oh come on, Pepper, please forgive me? I didn't mean it that way." Tony begged.

"No, Tony, its bad enough you blew me off for a suit of armor, now you're pointing out that you're rich and arrogant and I'm not! Why don't you just go home before you ruin anything else?" Pepper said angrily, showing him to the window. Tony sighed and climbed back onto the ledge.

"Come on, can I start this conversation over? I didn't mean it that way." Tony begged once more. Pepper shook her head.

"Think for a long time about why I'm so offended by what you said, then come to me and do the right thing. In the meantime, goodnight." Pepper said, shutting her window. Tony found his way back to the ground, moping the rest of the way home.

Once he got home, he laid out on his bed and sulked.

"What did I do wrong this time?" He asked sadly to his ceiling. He knew he'd be there a while.

**Well, let us stop there for the night, shall we? Sounds good. Review?**


	4. Sorry Don't Cut It

Rhodey, having watched Tony sulking in his bed when he came back the next day, sighed as he stood in Tony's doorway.

"You're still trying to figure out what you did wrong?" Rhodey asked.

"No, I figured that out after a few hours. Its making it up to her is what I'm trying to figure out." Tony explained.

"Well obviously sorry's not going to cut it here, so maybe you should go to her apartment, oh I don't know, in public?" Rhodey said. "You know, a large part of the reason she's mad at you?"

"I guess you're right." Tony said with a sigh. He got off his bed, got his shirt back on and walked out the front door.

Once he got to Pepper's apartment building, he stood outside of it for a moment before going inside. Unlike his initial thought, no one was really even in the hallways. And if they were, they didn't seem very surprised to see him. Sure, a turn of the head occurred, but no other signs of surprise were expressed. Tony was thankful for the lack of attention, due to the fact that for most of his life, anywhere he went at least one camera followed.

He found her apartment and knocked on the door. When her father answered a moment later, Tony swallowed nervously before speaking.

"Is, uh, Pepper home?" Tony asked. Virgil gave him a look that said 'you better watch what you say around me, son,', but then stepped aside and called up the stairs for Pepper.

A minute or two later, Pepper came down the stairs, forming a surprised look once she saw Tony at the door.

"Tony! What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came to say sorry for blowing you off earlier and making you mad." Tony explained. Pepper studied his expression for a moment, seeing a combination of interesting feelings: nervousness, to which she figured was caused by her father answering the door and intimidating him, sincere sorrow and hope that she would forgive him. A half-smile formed on her face.

"Alright, I forgive you, but you have two strikes left." Pepper said. Tony sighed in relief.

"Whew, that's good…I don't think I could've taken a no." Tony said. Pepper giggled.

"Well, you did come to my front door this time...I think it's a step in the right direction." Pepper explained. She wasn't just forgiving him because she loved him that much. She forgave him because she remembered what his life had been like and how he had been raised. She realized he probably didn't have the civil graces of a common person, as he had been raised in the ways of the wealthy. She knew that there were just some things that Tony may not understand, and she had to let him learn these things slowly, one step at a time.

"I guess I'm learning then, eh?"

Pepper chuckled at him and led him to sit next to the couch, where she could introduce him to her father.

"Hey dad," Pepper said sweetly to her father as he sat in his chair and read the newspaper. Once he heard his daughter's voice, he set down the newspaper.

"Yes Pepper?" He responded.

"This is Tony…he's my new boyfriend," Pepper explained shyly. Virgil was silent a moment, which made Tony extremely nervous.

"Well, nice to meet you Tony," Virgil finally said, sticking out his hand for Tony to shake. Tony swallowed nervously and shook Virgil's hand.

Pepper smiled at the friendly encounter, glad the two were getting along.

Tony settled into the couch, wrapping his arm around Pepper's shoulders as they sat in the living room and started a long conversation between the three of them.

~…~

Later that day, Tony walked casually into Howard's office with a relaxed smile on his face.

"Well, I see you've been with Pepper." Howard said with a smile.

"Yeah, I've been at her apartment for a few hours. Gosh, she's really something, dad. Not like any other girl I've met before." Tony said happily.

"Well, son, I'm glad you've found someone special." Howard said happily. He had honestly never seen his son so relaxed or so happy before. He'd always been happy, but this was…different.

Before Tony could respond, Pepper poked her head into Howard's office shyly to ask Tony a question.

"Tony, I couldn't find the bathroom…" She said quietly.

"Around the corner to your left. Trish should be able to show you," Tony explained. Pepper nodded, and before shutting the door behind her, waved shyly at Howard.

"Oh, dad, this is Pepper." Tony said, assuring Pepper that she could come in. Pepper stepped fully into the room, waving shyly at Howard. Howard smiled sincerely and waved back.

"Well hello, miss Pepper, Tony has told me a lot about you." Howard said. Pepper smiled, said hello back, then rushed out of his office nervously, finding her way to the bathroom.

"She seems very nice," Howard said. He was pretty busy, so he didn't exactly have time for a very good conversation, but if he had he would've told Tony that he was very happy for him and explained that he is very glad that he could find someone who makes him happy. But he was in the middle of a business call, (he had been on hold when Tony walked in, but the man on the other end came back) so he had to get back to work.

Once Tony noticed his father was busy on a business call, he walked out of the office and saw Trish at her desk, so decided to talk to her while waiting for Pepper.

"So I see you have a girlfriend now," Trish said. "She seems so nice."

"Oh, she's great. She's not like anyone I've ever met before, really something special…Rhodey introduced us." Tony explained.

"Well, I'm very happy for you." Trish said with a smile, getting back to her own paperwork. As Pepper came out, Tony decided to go somewhere else to hang out, since everyone he tried to talk to had some sort of work to do and seemed not to have much time for him.

"Your dad seems so nice," Pepper said as they walked out into the street.

"He is, when he's not working. If he's not working, we would've been in there a lot longer talking. But he was on a business call, probably discussing the earth mover testing." Tony explained. "I guess I never realized how much work and no play it was until I got to take a step back." Tony explained.

"Oh, nothing's changed about it, Tony, I'm sure you'll still have fun inventing stuff like…earth movers for your dad's company." Pepper assured him.

"I know, but I just hadn't realized how anti-teenager I can be. I spend a lot of time around adults." Tony said.

"In case you were wondering, we call that having no life in teenager terms." Pepper said with a smile.

"What, I have no life? Bummer. I have a girlfriend but no life." Tony teased.

"Oh, me? No, you just got lucky."

Tony chuckled. "I consider myself the luckiest guy in the world to have someone like you in my life," He said as he kissed her forehead gently. Pepper smiled.

"Hey, don't think this revokes one of your strikes." She warned with a friendly smile.

"Darn." Pepper giggled at his response.

**That's enough of that fluff for now…no, I don't really know where I'm going with this story yet, so excuse the lack of progress. I don't want too much Iron Man action, really, I just want to touch on what would happen between Tony and Pepper if Howard had never been kidnapped and everything was normal—for the Starks, that is. I'm still thinking through what I want to happen with the armor and all that stuff. So hang tight, k? Cool! Review!**


	5. Some More Oblivious

As Tony and Howard were headed to the testing grounds to test out new tech they'd put into the armor, Tony got a call on his phone.

"Hello?"

"_Tony! Are we hanging out today?" _

"Oh, sorry Pep, I can't today, dad and I are testing the armor. It's gonna be a while, we've got a lot of new tech to test and then a bunch of companies to call. Sorry, I'll make it up to you, I have tomorrow free." Tony explained, hanging up after, due to the fact that their plane was landing soon.

Pepper sighed as she walked out of the school building.

"Tony's busy, eh?" Rhodey chimed.

"Yeah, testing the armor with his dad." She explained indignantly.

"Well, you do have to understand where he's coming from. His dad is really important to him, and vice versa. Ever since his mom died, those two have gotten closer than close. It's not easy knowing Tony sometimes, you gotta learn how to give him his space when he needs it." Rhodey explained.

"Oh, I know, I'm just really not used to this whole thing yet. Everything happened so fast so far. My first day here and I'm hooking up with a rich famous teenage inventor. Boy, things do move quickly in this city." Pepper said.

"Oh I'm sure you'll get used to it. It just takes time." Rhodey said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Pepper said, saying goodbye to turn onto the street where her apartment was.

Once she got home, Virgil was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper.

"You're home early. I thought you'd be hanging out with that new boyfriend of yours?" He asked.

"No, he's busy testing stuff with his dad today." Pepper explained.

"Again?"

"He's a brilliant inventor, dad; I have to give him _some_ time for inventor stuff. Besides that, he needs time with his dad because they're really close…" Pepper explained. Virgil shrugged, seeing a liable reason in that, and went back to his newspaper. Pepper proceeded to her room to finish up her remaining homework.

~…~

The next day, Pepper called Tony, eager to hang out with him as he'd promised yesterday.

"Hey, Tony, are we hanging out today?"

"_Ooh, sorry Pep, I just woke up with a thousand upgrade ideas for the armor. Gotta work on them before I forget them. Maybe later, okay?" _

Now Pepper wasn't so lenient on him.

"But you promised we'd spend time together today?" She asked.

"_Pep, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to blow you off. I just really can't forget these ideas, they're huge."_ Tony explained. Pepper sighed.

"You better have something really good up your sleeve to make this up to me, Tony…"

"_I know, I'm going to do that tomorrow. You'll love it, you'll see." _

With that, Pepper hung up. This wasn't the first time he'd done this to her. He seemed super excited about his armor, and was constantly upgrading it and working on it and fixing it up. She could understand spending time with his dad, but now he was just blowing her off for work. She decided to ask Rhodey about it.

"Hey, Rhodey, can I ask you something?"

"_Sure, what's up?"_

"Does Tony blow you off a lot too?"

"_Well, no, but that's because we don't really make dates to hang out anymore, we kinda just hang out in his lab. Why, did he blow you off again?" _

"Yes. He promised me we'd hang out today to make up for being busy yesterday, but when I called him just now he said he had upgrades for the armor." Pepper explained.

"_I'll talk to him. Sometimes he doesn't realize he's not being a good boyfriend…" _ Rhodey said, hanging up.

~..~

Once Rhodey got to the lab, he saw Tony in the back working on his armor.

"Tony, dude, do you know how to be a proper boyfriend at all?" Rhodey asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Tony asked, not bothering to look up from his work.

"I mean Pepper's annoyed with you for blowing her off after you promised the day together." Rhodey explained.

This time, Tony stopped his welding and looked up at his friend.

"Wait, she's mad?" He asked. Rhodey sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"No way. There's no way you don't know this." He said, "You can't possibly be that ignorant."

"I'm sorry, I really don't know why she's mad at me." Tony said.

"Dude, you said you'd spend the day together and you blew her off to work on a suit of armor." Rhodey explained. "That's a no-no for good boyfriend behavior."

"Oh…I guess I hadn't realized that…so she's ticked, huh?"

"Yep, she's pretty annoyed. She's trying to understand why you do these things, but it's getting difficult." Rhodey explained.

"Well, what can I do to make it up to her?" Tony asked.

"Well, you're going to have to be the most sincere as you possibly can, but I'd suggest you get some flowers and give her like, a three-page long apology speech or something." Rhodey suggested. Tony contemplated the idea.

"Yeah, yeah, that could work…" Tony said, grabbing a piece of paper and scribbling down his armor ideas before grabbing his wallet and rushing out of the lab. On his way past, Rhodey gave him a pat on the back.

"Atta boy…"

Tony then set out on his mission of the day—apologize to his girlfriend.

**Well, I think this story's only going to last a few more chapters. I don't really know what else to do with it…unless I get a sudden idea. Idk, I'll be thinking. Review?**

**EDIT-Sorry for ending the chapter on a weird place, idk what happened there. I might have made a stupid move there and posted an unfinished chapter? Anyways, to make up for it, chapter six is coming soon. Might be the last chapter. We'll see.  
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	6. Things Need To Change

About an hour later, Tony had done his best to apologize. He'd brought flowers that he bought quickly on his way over, and had the most sincere apology he could think of ready. But she didn't seem like she was buying it.

"Oh, I guess I'll give you one more chance…but you have to make it up to me over dinner on Tuesday. It's a very important day. You DO remember what Tuesday is, don't you?" Pepper explained. Tony very vaguely remembered.

"Of course I know what Tuesday is. Tuesday, I got it. Won't do anything but that Tuesday. Tuesday is our day. I'll pick you up from school, and we can have the whole rest of the day together. I promise. I won't forget." Tony said. Pepper smiled and patted his cheek.

"Good. Now I have school tomorrow so get lost." Pepper said as the two stood and Tony headed out the front door of her apartment.

~…~

Back at his lab, Tony panicked. Pacing back and forth, running his hands through his hair worriedly, he asked himself over and over again, what the heck was happening Tuesday?

"You don't remember what Tuesday is, do you?" Rhodey asked.

"What? Of course I do. How could I forget?" Tony lied. Rhodey gave him a look that said 'come on, Tony.'

"Okay, I have no idea what Tuesday is."

Rhodey sighed.

"Tuesday is your three week anniversary. Before you say anything, it's important to Pepper. And what's important to her is important to you. Most high school couples don't make it past one or two weeks, so it's kind of a milestone in your relationship. A small one, but it's still a milestone. And if you forget, I don't think she's going to talk to you ever again." Rhodey explained.

"Okay, so I really need to remember. I'll leave a reminder on my phone, I will not forget this time!" Tony said as he ran for his house to tape notes to the wall near his bed where he'd see them every day until Tuesday.

~…~

A few days later, Tuesday finally rolled around. Tony had woken up that day raring and ready for their night together, but somewhere in the process of waiting for school to let out, he decided to work in his lab for a few hours to pass the time. But of course, he should have realized that that was a bad idea, because he always lost track of time when he got working on inventions. _Especially_ the armor; which, of course, he made improvements on while he was waiting.

So, as you could well imagine, when Pepper waited a half an hour for Tony to meet her at school once it let out, she wasn't happy when she ended up walking home by herself. And of course, she REALLY wasn't happy with Tony.

Rhodey came by the armory to make sure Tony hadn't forgotten (which was a wise decision). Once he got there and saw Tony obliviously working, he felt a combination of the disappointed feeling that Tony's relationship was soon to be over and Tony was about to go into a long stage of depression and the itching feeling that Tony had in fact forgotten what he was supposed to be doing.

"Hey, T, what time is it?" Rhodey asked casually. Tony checked his phone quickly. Then it clicked.

"Oh shoot, I was supposed to meet Pepper three hours ago!" Tony exclaimed, jumping from his seat and bolting out of the lab.

~…~

Pepper slammed the door behind her. She had waited a whole half an hour at the front steps of the Tomorrow Academy, and Tony had not shown. She had a hunch about where he was and what he was doing, and she was not happy.

It was one thing to blow me off once, Pepper thought, and twice I can forgive, considering his isn't the happiest story and sometimes he lacks social skills, but forgetting an important three-week anniversary date was crossing the line. She had stressed the importance of the date for the whole week before it, and she thought she had created an understanding. But apparently she was wrong.

Tony had his good moments and his bad, but lately his bad were outshining the good. More and more he would shrug her off for his inventions, for no apparent reason except to work on the armor or some other invention that he claimed to be 'very important', which apparently was code for 'more important than spending time with your girlfriend'. She didn't want to admit it, but lately she'd just had it with him. She wasn't very sure whether she was willing to forgive him or not. She wanted to, she wanted to with all of her heart, but she didn't want to stay in a relationship where she was pulling all the weight, doing all the work and getting no attention in return. It didn't seem worth it.

~…~

Once Tony got to Pepper's apartment, he quickly and nervously knocked on the door. Pepper, who had been sitting on the couch, extremely upset with Tony, had to hastily wipe away the little drips of running mascara that had begun to form when she had checked the time to see that three hours had passed since Tony had forgotten their big date.

When she opened the door, she was definitely _not _happy to see Tony standing there.

"What do you want?" She asked bitterly.

"Pepper, I'm really sorry I forgot about our date, and I have no excuse this time. I was passing the time in my lab working on some stuff, and the time, it just got away from me. And I know I seem like a jerk right now, and I know there's probably no chance that you're going to forgive me, but I'm going to apologize until I run out of voice anyways," Tony began, speaking quickly and nervously.

"Look, Pepper, I know I've had a lucky life compared to you, and I know it seems like this has nothing to do with it, but just bear with me, because I think somehow I'm going to get to a point. I wish I had a normal life like you or Rhodey because at least that way I may have known from the beginning about how to be a good boyfriend. Because the sad, pathetic truth is I really just don't know how to be a boyfriend because my whole life up until I met Rhodey and later you has been lonely and sad and the fact of the matter is I don't think I have social skills and furthermore I don't think I deserve you, and I know you deserve someone who won't constantly forget about you and forget to spend time with you and I don't blame you for wanting to dump me right now. But the truth is I never forget about you, because you're constantly running through my mind like a chicken with its head cut off. The truth is I can't stop thinking about you no matter how hard I try I just can't get you off of my mind and well basically I love you a lot, like A LOT a lot, and I realize that I'm babbling, but that's because I'm really really nervous right now and I'm scared of losing you and all of this is coming out randomly, and—"

Before he could continue, Pepper decided to stop him there. She wasn't going to forgive him this easily this time.

"Tony, I get it, just stop…" She said, slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Sorry…look, what can I do to make it up to you?" Tony asked.

"If I told you it wouldn't be as convincing." Pepper said indignantly, crossing her arms. Tony sighed and grabbed her arm, leading her out of the apartment building and out to the street.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise!" Tony yelled over his shoulder excitedly. After leading her through town, they finally reached Central Park. Tony lead her deep into the park until they reached a large, brick series of walkways that went through the park; specifically, he led them to a bench that wrapped around a small patch of grass and trees and sat them down.

"Tony, why are we sitting on a bench in central park?" Pepper asked.

"Because, we're going to watch the stars. Mom and I used to do this all the time before she died." Tony explained, pointing to the sky. Pepper followed his finger to see the clearest sky she'd seen in a long time. No clouds or trees in the way at all. Just clear black sky and shining, twinkling skies.

"Oh my gosh, this is the best spot ever! It's so beautiful here, I-I didn't know this spot existed! It's so hidden away, like it's almost a world of our very own…" Pepper marveled. Near the bench they sat on was a large fountain with a statue of an angel in the middle, and a large concrete wall curving around it. Beautiful shrubs decorated the ground around it, making the area even more unbelievably beautiful.

"See those three or four stars right there?" Tony asked, pointing up to the sky. "Those are the stars that make up Orion's belt. If you look carefully around it, you can see the rest of his body too." Tony explained. Pepper sighed in wonder.

"Wow…I think I do see it," She said as she gazed up into the stars.

"Actually, what we see as a star could actually be a huge cluster of stars. A whole other galaxy, maybe." Tony explained.

"Wow…so in each star could be a whole other world?" Pepper asked as she laid across the bench, her head resting in Tony's lap.

"Mhm…" Tony said tiredly. "I kind of miss doing this with my mom. She showed me all the constellations. We did this kind of thing all the time when my dad was up at night working on inventions. She loved the stars." Tony explained.

"Oh…I'm sorry. It's probably not the same with me instead of her." Pepper said.

"Oh, nonsense. Sure, it's not exactly the same, but there's no place I'd rather be than with you." Tony said.

"Then why do you blow me off all the time?" Pepper asked.

"Look, Pepper, I'm really sorry for being a jerk lately. I don't mean to blow you off when I do. It's just that, after my mom died, my dad and I kind of reverted to inventing stuff as solace. It became a habit ever since to forget about the world around me when I'm inventing or working on stuff because back then I didn't want to be a part of the real world. It's a bit depressing; I'm not going to go into detail. But anyways, at the time I never thought I'd be dating anyone. But I promise, from now on, I'll try and be better about it." Tony explained. They were silent for a moment before Tony continued.

"A-and, I just want you to know that I really do care about you, a lot. I've never felt this way before about anyone, and no one has seemed so important to me than you, and I don't want to lose you. I don't care what it takes to get you back, because I'd do anything for you. I-I love you, Pep." Tony explained. Pepper smiled. That was perhaps the sweetest thing she'd ever heard in her life.

"Oh, Tony, I love you too! I guess I could be a little more understanding about you…"

"Don't be silly, you're perfect. You didn't do anything wrong." Tony responded.

"You're just going to keep saying that until I believe you, aren't you? Denying it is useless, right?"

"Yep." Tony said with a proud smile.

"Well, you're lucky I need you just as much as you need me…"

"Oh, you're exaggerating. I need you _way _more than you could imagine. And if you're not in my life for a long time, there's going to be consequences for both of us."

That night, Tony learned an important lesson. He learned not to take things in his life for granted. He learned that without Pepper, he would feel like his life is useless and without someone to share it with he shouldn't be alive. Or, at the very least, would be a very lonely, bored, useless person. He learned that from now on, he was going to treat Pepper as if without her, he would die. To treat her like a princess, because the truth was that he loved her with all of his heart and without her, it would be like having no heart.

**Okay, just to get this out of the way, sorry for not focusing on anything Iron Man for this story, but the point of it was to focus on what would happen between Tony and Pepper if there had been no plane crash. I may follow up on this in the distant future on why Gene didn't kidnap Howard or how Tony gets to be Iron Man, if I want to, but for now this is it. So review?**

**Oh—and sorry if the ending didn't seem that grand…as long as I highlighted the point that Tony really needs Pepper in his life, I will be satisfied. **


End file.
